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Nigeria Crackdown: Troops Open Fire at Shia Mourners

Nigeria Crackdown: Troops Open Fire at Shia Mourners
folder_openAfrica... access_time7 years ago
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Local Editor

Nigerian forces opened fire at Shia mourners taking part in Ashura processions, martyring at least nine people in the cities of Kaduna and Funtua.

Nigeria Crackdown: Troops Open Fire at Shia Mourners
 
The killings on Wednesday came as mourners defied a state ban, holding processions in several cities to mark the martyrdom anniversary of Imam Hussein [AS], the third Shia Imam.

Tensions were already running high between the regime and Nigeria's Shia Muslims who have been demanding the release of prominent cleric Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky from prison.

Heavily-armed troops in a convoy of 18 armored vehicles surrounded a gathering of mourners in Kaduna as an ambulance waited nearby, UK-based Islamic Human Rights Commission [IHRC] said in a statement.

A local newspaper said the standoff was at the residence of senior Shia leader Muhtar Sahabi. It said armed soldiers and mobile police officers surrounded the compound and were waiting for those gathered inside to leave.

The confrontations followed a spate of arrests over recent days of members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria [IMN], the mainstream group led by Sheikh Zakzaky.

The government imposed a ban to prevent the movement's supporters from attending ceremonies commemorating the month of Muharram during which Imam Hussein [PBUH] and his 72 companions were martyred 14 centuries ago.

The killings on Wednesday revive the memory of the run-up to the massacre last December of hundreds of IMN supporters by the army and the arrest of Sheikh Zakzaky.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team

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